To search and find
by weirdredstreak
Summary: What was believed to have happened didn't really happen that night, the mysterious disappearance of A little boy locked in a cupboard is soon to be solved the questions still remain
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own harry potter in anyway, I only play when bored with the characters.**

The room was dark, tiny, and the scent of mould permeated the air. Despite small size the little room wasn't empty, inside a little child seemed to shrink even more with a small whimper in his sleep as dawn approached. The child wasn't the only inhabitant of this little room, there were hundreds of tiny insects creating their nests in an area that hadn't been cleaned since before the tiny cupboard had received its resident, even the child wasn't free from the filth, covered in mud and a tiny threadbare blanket, markings from disciplines evident on his bare back. This was the cupboard under the stairs where one lonely child had slept for the past 7 years.

There was a click at the cupboard door as the lock was undone and another when the handle was twisted. The door was pounded on with a smooth and soft skinned fist as the tall thin woman connected to said arm, dressed in a pink floral patterned dress, screamed for the boy to cook breakfast. The boy who lived inside the cupboard under the stairs was on his feet in moments moving the blanket at the same time so, that it didn't touch the grimy wooden floor. Wincing slightly at the stretching of scabs on his back the child gritted his teeth, pulling an oversized shirt that had belonged to his cousin until he had outgrown it, over his bare chest and grabbing a pair of glasses before hurrying out the cupboard door into the light not pausing to allow his eyes to adjust to the brightness. The boy had black messy hair and emerald green eyes, which were slightly unsettling; he almost seemed to look into the souls of people who met his eyes. He was unusually short for his age and skinny, his ribs clearly visible to any that would have cared to look, but none had ever before.

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In another location, not too far away there was a woman with the same green eyes and long auburn hair reaching half way to the floor, the man standing beside her with the messy black short hair. The pair weren't short not at all; they had in fact been the tallest in their year. The woman looked down at the photo in her hands bursting into tears seconds later. There was a child in it not old but a mere baby, sleeping in a cot holding a stuffed black fluffy dog. The man froze for a second before taking her into his arms remembering that this was the day that everything had changed 7 years ago, the day that their family had been ripped apart. If only they could trust the wizarding world, if only they could be sure that if they revealed themselves to the old man that he would help them get their child; if he even knew where the child was.

That was a lot of ifs, ones that couldn't be helped without their friends, oh how he missed them the pair hadn't seen their close friends since before their baby was born when they'd gone into hiding. He blamed himself for the attack knowing in his heart that it was his influence that resulted in that rat being chosen, however unknown to him his wife felt the same in that she was to blame for e events. The man stroked his love's hair soothingly hoping that the tears would soon stop.

"Shhh love; we will find him, we will find our Harry. I have an idea about where he could be." The woman looked up from his chest with reddened eyes, and a tear stained face sniffing slightly as she tried to get herself under control.

"Really? ... James, where is he? Where do you think he is?" She asked her voice raw stumbling slightly over the words as she tossed her head moving her long wavy hair out of her face, revealing her ears slightly pointed at the top not small round ones like expected.

The man paused for a moment before answering, knowing that if he was incorrect or if they couldn't find her sister then this may just break her heart. As much as he hated to see his wife and mate hurt he couldn't do it, he couldn't not tell her.

"Your adopted sister, it wasn't exactly advertised that you were adopted and that she hated you; he may have been placed with her, if we can find her we may find him too." The woman frowned, could it be? Could her darling son have been placed with her sister who hated her for no real reason other than jealousy; jealousy that she had magic. It couldn't hurt to try. James had very little family left, could their son have been placed with her adoptive sister because she was thought to be the only family he had left.

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The boy was back in the little cupboard starving, stomach still rumbling. Having gained a whole new set of welts and other marks on top of his old ones; some even covered his face, he would have to be careful to explain it away at school as clumsiness. He had to be strong. If he could only survive until the end of the weekend, where he could get out of the house to his primary school he could have the opportunity to get some food.

It was at moments like these that he didn't even really care that he had to pretend to be stupid in order to get lower grades than Dudley, that he was beaten up in the playground because of his cousin as long as he could be in that class room and learn. He had learned very quickly years ago when he had first started school not to get better grades than his cousin, it was a difficult task with how stupid his cousin was. His cousin could barely add 2+2 or write a sentence; not due to any learning disability but because he refused to learn he would prefer to be at home where his mother catered to his every whim or out in the streets with his friends beating other children up especially harry.

The boy sighed, this day was the anniversary of the day his parents had died leaving him in the care of his aunt and uncle. He had to have been a terrible baby for his parents to have gotten drunk and then in the afternoon driven their car speeding into a bus filled with children excited to be on their way home from school. The worst thing for him he thought, was that there were many children that had been terribly injured and three little six year olds had died. He couldn't really blame his parents, look at him! He was covered in bruises which clearly showed how naughty he was, he could imagine he must have been like a devil as a baby. Why couldn't he be a normal child with parents alive; a child that couldn't do freaky things when he got really scared or angry. Was it in a past life? Had he murdered someone and now he had to see justice?.

Although he always tried his best at completing his numerous chores he always did something wrong. His aunt and uncle would always complain about something, whether it be that the floor wasn't shiny enough, that the grass was too short when a week prior he'd said that it was too long when cut that length. These mistakes always resulted in a beating, sometimes it was for things such as his cousin walking through the mud and walking over the clean wooden floors. He was starting to realise that these complaints were just their way of justifying a their actions. He sighed and decided that he may as well try to sleep, that always helped his injuries. This was another freaky thing that he did but at times, he was glad of it. Although he couldn't tell what time of day it was, sleeping was always a useful thing to do, in that it meant he would be somewhat rested to do any tasks that his aunt or uncle asked him to do.

The boy in the cupboard under the stairs slipped off into unconsciousness rather than sleep, shivers making his body seem to move more than it should. His stomach rumbled unsettled it needed something in it.

Due to this unconsciousness, he didn't hear the doorbell ring just as darkness was starting to fall on Privet drive and the street lamps were starting to glow in preparation for the night ahead. Nor did he hear his cousin yelling to his aunt and uncle that someone was at the door.

Enjoy...


	2. Chapter 2

**See chapter 1 for disclaimer!**

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The man and woman stood on the doormat, they had just rang the doorbell and heard the banging within, knowing that the inhabitants inside might have their child, they were feeling rather nervous. They had been starting to feel their hope fading, their hope of every finding him and introducing him to the Wizarding World before he started Hogwarts going down the drains. They were worried how he would take to the wizarding world after being away for so long. Any person would be overwhelmed, but to an 11 year old just finding himself in the wizarding world they didn't want him attending because he'd lived an isolated life, most likely unaware of his fame, and it could be traumatic to suddenly be thrust into the lime light while looking for life-long friends, if they could slowly introduce him to the wizarding world it would be better.

It hadn't been easy finding them in the telephone book, it seemed that London had gotten so big that the book was divided into different sections within London. This meant that they had spent hours searching through it. First Lilly and James had searched the whole thing for a P. Evans, but after phone calls to those that were under that name they hadn't had any luck so then the search had been initiated again, only this time they were looking for a P. and V. Dursley. Surrey had been the last suburb checked. Calling had gotten the answer machine which told them it was indeed her adoptive sister. Then a short apparition later and here they were outside number 4 privet Drive Surrey.

What a place to grow up, every house in this street was nearly identical, from the colour of bricks to the shape and size, the only difference was the flowers planted in the front of them. The man shuddered slightly, how could children grow up in these small houses so close to each other, where were the children to run and be children? He looked back at the door; seeing movement out of the corner of his eye. There was a big fat man, he almost looked like a walrus, perhaps with the attitude of a sloth? Surely that would be what had caused the huge stomach sticking out from the man's body similar to how his wife's had looked when she was 6 months carrying their Harry. The double neck and the excess fat on the man's face, arms, legs and torso seemed to enforce that belief.

He became aware that the man was replying to his wife's question and drew himself back to the conversation, "Yes I'm Vernon Dursley and my wife is Petunia Dursley, she was Petunia Evans before the marriage, what do you want?" The voice was gruff.

"May we come in? We know your wife." he slipped in wanting desperately to get off the doorstep and the identical surroundings. Vernon looked at the man on his doorstep shocked at this man's audacity asking if they could come in, but after considering he nodded and moved away from the door.

The first impressions of this house was of how clean it was, it nearly seemed to sparkle, how did they do it? Of course there wasn't anything out of the ordinary in this home anything un-normal would have been shunned long ago. It almost made James hope that their Harry wasn't there, that he hadn't been surrounded by this every minute of most days for the past 7 years. They were directed into the living room where Petunia was sitting drinking a cup of tea, in a floor length pink floral furniture was a deep blue hue, something that wouldn't show marks easily but would also show off the white walls of the house to their best advantage. On the walls were a multitude of framed pictures of three people two grossly overweight and Petunia who seemed to make the two look even more over weight. They both looked at the younger of the two men realising with a slight amount of relief that the fat child wasn't their Harry.

"Lilly? James?" Petunia had risen while the two had looked around the room and were staring at them her face pale. How could it be? They had been told that they were dead. What was happening?

"Yes Petunia, it's us. We were wondering if you have our son?" The woman couldn't do anything but stare, she bit her lip frowning then determinedly she shook her head. Behind them Vernon just stared at his wife from the doorway. They just sighed and nodded preparing to leave. It was obvious that her sister didn't want them there.

There was a crash upstairs, and then the boy from the photos came down jumping on each step almost gleefully. He seemed unbelievably more overweight than any of the pictures on the wall, which was concerning. He could only just make it down the stairs.

enjoy (it's a bit shorter)


	3. Chapter 3

**See chapter 1 for disclaimer!**

"Mum the freak didn't clean my room properly there are crumbs all over the bed spread, he's obviously stolen food that isn't his." The boy cried out acting out that he was furious.

"Freak? Where is this freak, child?" Lilly asked her voice soft as she tried to contain the anger within her. She couldn't; no wouldn't get angry at them unless her belief came into play, that Petunia was lying, Harry was here. As a child, after Petunia had discovered magic thanks to her friend Severus, her sister had always called her freak when her parents weren't around to hear.

"The freak is in the cupboard under the stairs where he belongs." Dursley's son said. He was confused about what was happening, he didn't think that these people would be here, and it made a slight problem with his plan of getting the freak into trouble. His parents wouldn't care they loved an excuse to punish the freak it was almost like a celebration.

In that moment, the man with black hair was moving towards the mentioned cupboard horrified that a person had been kept in there. He vowed to himself that even if it wasn't their Harry, they would take the poor soul out of this home, no it wasn't a home it was a house. He was slightly disappointed that the darkness would mean that none of the neighbours would be able to see them taking the person out of this house but it couldn't be helped. He reached the cupboard, saw the lock and drew his wand. With a gentle tap of the wood against the silver metal lock the lock disengaged with a click; he could finally open the cupboard door and see what was inside. For the woman watching in anticipation hoping both that it was their Harry and that it wasn't at the same time, watching her husband hurry to the door, unlock it and open it seemed to take an eternity. For the horrified Dursley adults it seemed to happen too fast they couldn't get their feet to move out of the range of those wands before the truth was discovered. They could only stare in shock.

The man looked into the cupboard; it wasn't what he'd been expecting. It was cold, very cold he could almost feel it reaching out to him drawing and absorbing the warmth of his body without warming the room. There was a tiny cot, one suited to a 2 year old, on which a small child was curled up under a threadbare blanket. He frowned wouldn't the child have woken up, they hadn't been all that quiet and the Dursley's son had been almost loud enough to wake the dead. He leaned in ignoring the filth of the room and touched the foot of the child that was sticking out of the blanket, it was hot, not a normal body heat but that of one very sick; more concerning due to the low temperature of the room. He ducked down even more placing one foot inside the cupboard and then the other, he frowned could the child have pneumonia or was it some other illness?

From the inside, the cupboard seemed even smaller he reached out his hand a few inches and gently pulled the blanket off the child trying to gauge the age and gender. He was shocked to find that the child's visible skin was covered in mud. The skin that wasn't, was covered in oversized clothing that had to have belonged to the fat pig on the stairs at one point, only it was soaked through. With a flick of his wand the clothes were dry and had shrunken so that the child no he corrected himself Harry wouldn't drown in the clothes so much at least until they could get him something better. He glanced around the rest of the cupboard looking for anything that would truly belong to the child but nothing was in sight. There was no furniture in the room except the tiny cot. He reached down to look under the bed and still there was nothing. A final glance down at the bed revealed a pair of wire rimmed glasses. The glasses were held together with clear tape in many places evidence that the child, was not only forced to live in a cupboard but abused as well. It was almost good that the child was unconscious at least he didn't have to worry so much about him being terrified of him at the moment; he could focus on getting him, the child and Lilly out of this house without cursing any of the other people living here.

Gently he picked up the boy leaving the blanket, they could provide better. James retrieved the glasses knowing that they wouldn't be able to get his eyes fixed until he was better. Ducking his head he maneuvered himself and the child in his arms out of the cupboard, careful not to knock the child against anything so as not to add more bruises to his already bruised body. The red haired woman watched impatiently, the angry expression on her face turning to one of horror as she watched her husband come out of the cupboard, knees covered in filth, a mud covered boy in his arms, cobwebs in his hair and dust covering him. She forgot about the Dursleys watching in fear for what was going to happen and rushed to the pair in the hallway.

"Is it Harry?" She asked. The only answer she got was a shrug, it was obvious he didn't care at the moment. He wanted to get them all out of this house she did hope it was Harry, then she would know that he was safe with them. However even if it wasn't Harry she knew they would take the child in. She nodded and led the way back to the front door, they both turned on the doorstep apparating back to their home. Unknown to them leaving the house caused the wards to disintergrate.

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Elsewhere a family sat around the table eating dinner, it was hard sitting here acting like nothing was wrong when in fact something was very wrong. Due to the events that had occurred the oldest red heads were considering bringing their oldest two children home from Hogwarts. If Azkaban couldn't keep the mass murderer in then how could Hogwarts keep him out. They had been horrified to see on the front page of the Daily Profit profit a week before, the night that Sirius Black had escaped. This was even more concerning because of him being a death eater. The fact that a notorious Death Eater had broken out of Azkaban concerned them that You-Know-Who was coming back and that Black had broken out to either try to kill Harry Potter or try to bring his lord back, or even both. Even the twins, Fred and George weren't their usual bubbly selves.

Upstairs in a bedroom there was a rat, terrified by the thought that Black would be coming after him to kill him for framing him for Lilly and James' murders and for the muggles and his supposed knew the truth that Black hadn't been a Death Eater and that he had never murdered anyone however he did know that the man was capable of murdering him for revenge for what he had done with being the Potter's secret keeper and then betraying them to the Dark Lord. He fretted in silence knowing that at least Black wouldn't know where to find him. That would keep him safe.

Downstairs the fire within the fireplace turned a bright emerald green, an indication that someone was coming through the floo. The adults immediately stood up drawing their wands, fearing who it could be. A tall, thin figure stepped out, it was an old male who had a long white beard and hair. His robes were midnight blue with stars sparkling on them. It was Albus Dumbledore the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and so the red heads relaxed and wands were lowered. They did notice that the headmaster's eyes weren't twinkling which seemed unusual but at first they put it down to Black's escape, but taking in the grave expression on his face they realised there was something more problematic.

"Hello Weasleys!" although his voice was as cheerful as usual it didn't extend to the expression on his face.

"Hello Professor Dumbledore." They all replied, the children more enthusiastically.

"Molly, Arthur can I talk with you. Alone?" they nodded realising there really was a problem. The two red headed adults led the way outside and stopped by Arthur's shed of muggle wonders that he played with.

Dumbledore drew his wand putting up a privacy ward ensuring that their discussion wouldn't be overheard.

"There's been a problem, with Mr Potter, it seems he was kidnapped from his Aunt and Uncle's house earlier this evening. The wards disintegrated as soon as they left. I have no idea who took him or where he is but he needs to be found, and quickly. Who knows what could happen to the poor child out of the wards. For all I know it could have been Black himself that kidnapped him. I'm restarting the Order of the Phoenix so we can search productively and hopefully find Harry soon. Will you join back up?"

The two stared in shock. This was serious, that Harry Potter had been kidnapped and they didn't know who had done it. The two looked at each other questioningly and made up their minds.

"Yes we will help, is it going to go public that he was kidnapped or is it staying as quiet as possible?" Arthur said, his voice was normal but his eyes were worried, worried about what this would mean. Who could have kidnapped Harry Potter from his muggle family without leaving some kind of signature on the wards? Was it dark magic?

"We need to keep it as quiet as possible for now but if he isn't found we will have to go public," Albus replied, he looked pained at the thought of going public and they knew this would be terrible for his reputation and for the whole Wizarding World Harry Potter was seen as a hero, a symbol of hope who had defeated You-Know-Who, for him to have been kidnapped wouldn't sit well with the public.

"When do you want to meet and where? What should we do with the children?" Molly asked the shock had worn off she was terrified.

"Tonight, in two hours at Hogwarts. Bring the children we can give them a sleep over of sorts with all of the other children like Neville Longbottom and such. We may be there for most of the night except those that have to work early. The problem will be of where could he have been taken," They nodded, it made sense for the children to all be in one place. Albus waved his wand again taking the security ward down and they all turned to go inside except Albus who started walking to the edges of the wards. They knew he had many more stops to make so they didn't try to get him to have some tea or food as much as they wanted to.

enjoy


	4. Chapter 4

**See disclaimer in chapter 1**

**By the way I am not British, nor have I ever been in the northern hemisphere**

** teufel1987- I have to say I didn't even really think about it, even though I know Surry and therefore Little Wringling were out of London, really it's rather amusing. Now reading back over I have to say its rather awkwardly phrased especially wih how this chapter starts. Anyway lets just pretend it is apart of London.**

James and Lilly found themselves at the edges of the wards of Potter Manor. Lilly stared at James and his bundle. He started to move through the wards.

"Why are we here rather than the house?" She asked slightly confused.

"It will be easier to clean the child up, here there are baths and healing potions while there isn't a bath at the house nor are there many healing potions. Also the wards are stronger." James hadn't stopped even while he was talking he was moving rapidly towards the manor so they could do their best to help the child. Lilly nodded although he didn't see it. She decided that if she could have the bath ready for the child when they arrived it could only help. She started running towards the light of the manor in the distance.

Not for the first time James cursed the fact that the wards extended so far out that it would take ten minutes to reach the manor so they could address the needs of the child within his arms. He frowned as the boy shivered in his arms. Carefully balancing the boy on his hip he leant down and picked up a stone from the pathway, returning to his full height he drew his wand and waved it at the rock transfiguring the hard, cold grey stone to a warm fur cloak. To ensure that the child would stay warm he charmed it with a warming charm, then wrapped him up in it carefully only leaving the child's mouth and nose clear of it so he could breathe properly, before putting the wand away.

During this he mostly kept a steady pace although slower than the original one. Once he had the boy settled he picked up the speed even more almost running towards the Manor.

He had made it to the Manor in in half the usual time. He paused for a moment then decided that the first priority was getting the boy into a bath and cleaned up so they could see what needed to be done. He already knew that the child needed to gain a lot of weight, he had barely weighed anything. He walked to their ensuite bathroom knowing that Lilly would have already started a bath there.

He walked in just as she was turning off the taps.

"I thought if we start just above room temperature we can increase the heat and hopefully get his body temperature back to what it should be." Lilly said knowing he was wondering at the lack of steam rising from the bath. He realised this was a good plan and nodded. He walked to the toilet, put the seat down and say on it. The child was starting to regain consciousness which he saw as a good sign. He removed the cloak, then started on the other oversized clothing. First the shirt which had originally been white but had stains from coloured drink on it. He ignored the state of the body underneath knowing it could be dealt with later. He glanced down noting there were no shoes and started pulling the trousers down and removing them. The majority of the boy was coated with mud and other dirt and grime. Carefully he lifted the boy into the clear pool of water. As soon as the child was in the water he came to.

He started fighting, completely terrified about where he was, what was happening? Was his aunt trying to drown him in the tub and make it look like an accident? What was that soft soothing sound in his ear?

The child looked up and realised this wasn't Number 4 Privet Drive. This was somewhere else. That wasn't his aunt and the hands holding him upright in the water weren't his uncle's. The soothing sound was someone humming. Where was he? Unknowingly he stopped struggling as these two people started cleaning him with a cloth and soap, removing the mud gently. He watched in fascination, he had never just sat in a bath while he was washed carefully. The only thing coming close to this was when his aunt held him down in the bath and used a scrubbing brush on him to get him clean before he had to go to school. They were always a lot more careful at what tasks they set him when the weather was horrible, in that they didn't want to waste the water.

In this bath there was the most water he had ever seen. It was like a small swimming pool. He glanced down again and saw that he was clean, it was different, his skin wasn't red and hurting like usual when he was bathed it was a pale pink. There was a sudden noise and he jumped and his head nearly slid under the water. The four hands that had been cleaning him catching him and bringing him back to the seat. There were small waves in the pool of water now, and strangely he thought the water level was rising, the water getting warmer. There was a warm hand placed on his forehead, it brushed his hair out of his face. That was something he was slightly disappointed about they had washed the rest of him but not his hair. He suddenly became aware that the other noise in the room was him, his teeth were chattering as he shivered. This wasn't new but he knew he had to stop his teeth chattering it may stop the punishment being so bad. He wondered what excuse these people were going to give to do it. He wondered what had happened causing him to come here. He wondered how long he would stay in this place.

As suddenly as the water started rising it stopped, the clear water becoming almost still, the movement from his breathing was causing slight ripples. The water was hotter now, not so hot that it burned. The hands that had held him and cleaned him weren't touching him anymore; nervously he allowed himself to relax lying back in the bath-like-contraption he knew there was little he could do. Apparently these people wanted him in here. Absently he noticed that the woman had left, but he hadn't been hurt so he didn't really pay much attention.

Lilly had left her husband and the boy in the bathroom. His body temperature seemed to be rising rapidly back to normal. She hoped that the child wouldn't get sick. When they'd had him in the bath and clean she knew that that little boy was her Harry. There was no mistaking it. His emerald green eyes and the high cheek bones like her, the rest almost a replication of James. It was almost enough to make her smile the possibility of them being seen as twins or siblings at least later in life was an amusing thought. Finding Harry was both exciting and devastating. Her eight-year-old child had been abused for the past seven years, how long would it take him to get over something like that? Would he ever get over it? No, she must not think that way, they had to fix this to get their family back together.

Lilly started walking towards the kitchens then paused after three steps, "Service" she called having realised she could call for a house elf. There was a sharp pop which almost made her jump as the elf appeared. It had huge blue eyes which seemed to take up a significant proportion of it's face, a long pointy nose like those believed to be in muggle tales on witches and huge ears shaped like an elephants. It was wearing a white dress shirt, a black tie bearing the Potter coat of arms and a long black skirt. It's feet were bare, hairy toes sticking out from the trouser hems.

"What can Mimsy do for Mistress?" The elf had a high pitched voice that squeeked when it spoke. Lilly immediately realised it was a female, she smiled at the elf and replied gently, "Can I get three mugs of hot cocoa please Mimsy?"

The elf almost bounced with happiness she had been given a request, she loved to serve the Masters and Mistresses.

"Yes, if you go to where you want them Mimsy will bring them back to you?" The elf raised her hand and twisted her ear nervously unsure it this was what Mistress wanted. But she received a smile and a nod from mistress, and let go of the ear popping away to get the cocoa ready for them.

Lilly walked back to the bathroom where she smiled, her son looked relaxed in the water, his cheeks a rosy tone. It relieved her because it meant that he couldn't be too cold now; Harry had warmed up. James looked questioningly up at her from a seat that he had obviously conjured by it's appearance. It was a red arm chair with a Gryffindor emblem on it she smiled in amusement, of course her husband would conjure something like that. She walked over to him and settled on his lap, murmuring to him softly, "I ordered some hot cocoa, how is he?"

"Harry seems better than he was. I checked his temperature a couple of minutes ago it isn't far away from what it should be, which it good. The hot cocoa should really help especially as I think the next thing we will need to worry about is dehydration and such." James replied in turn.

There was a pop and they all jumped; Harry looked terrified staring at Mimsy who had appeared carrying a tray with three ceramic mugs of hot coco. They had whipped cream and marshmallows on the top, that was all that could be seen.

"Thank you Mimsy, what is being served for dinner?" James asked with a smile, although he was hiding his fury at the Dursleys. Harry was looking like he was trying to hide under the bubbles that were in the water. He hadn't even tried to play with them all he had done after he stopped struggling when he realised that they weren't going to hurt him was sit there silently, almost like a statue.

"Chicken soup, Master James with a chocolate self-saucing pudding for desert because of the weather," Mimsy's voice continued to squeak. "Is you wanting anything else at the moment?" James shook his head and the elf handed the tray to Lilly who was the closest and popped out.

"Harry?" Lilly asked softly, her son's green eyes immediately turned towards her; she smiled and getting off James' lap she stepped towards him with the tray. The poor boy looked overwhelmed she thought sadly. She reached the bath and placed the tray down on the edge. Carefully picking up one of the mugs, she offered it to him. He stretched out his hand gingerly and accepted the mug. He looked down into it, clearly he had no idea what was in it or what he was supposed to do with it. Lilly picked up the tray and carried it back to James, he took the remaining mugs on it holding them one in each hand while she placed the tray on the ground and sat back in his lap; he then handed one over to her. Looking at Harry he was staring at them a confused expression on his face.

"It's hot cocoa Harry." Lilly searched his face for understanding that he was to drink it and received it with the look of astonishment displayed there.

enjoy...


	5. Chapter 5

**See disclaimer in chapter 1**

Harry's eyes widened and he lifted the mug up to his mouth cautiously, still slightly suspicious. He had never had hot coco or seen it. His aunt didn't trust him not to try it and steal some from his cousin, so Petunia made it. He could smell the chocolate and cinnamon, it made his mouth water especially as he hadn't eaten or drunken in days. He tilted the cup and opened his mouth slightly still scared that it was going to be taken off him, but he had noticed that the man and woman hadn't moved. Maybe it was meant for him. The liquid filled his mouth it wasn't too hot but not too cold either, he couldn't believe it. He had never tasted anything like it, was that what chocolate tasted like? If this was anything like what chocolate tasted like he could now understand why it was so popular. He lifted the mug away from his mouth, some of the cream forming a white moustache above his lips unknowingly. He swirled the liquid through his mouth unaware of the look of astonishment and bliss on his face before he finally allowed himself to swallow it. He looked up at the man and woman, now becoming aware that they were watching him with a smile on their faces. They had white moustaches; it made him wonder did he have one too? He didn't mind and took another sip of the hot cocoa, then another until eventually it was all gone. He almost sighed in disappointment; it was at this point that he became aware of the feeling of warmth in his body, like the warmth from the cocoa had moved into his body. It was a nice feeling he couldn't remember feeling like this before.

"Harry?" The child in the bath suddenly became aware that the woman was standing in front of him, she held her hand out and he handed over the empty mug. She moved away towards the tray on the tiled floor. There was a movement out of the corner of his eye and he noticed the man was waving the black stick again. The man nodded seemingly happy with whatever it had done had done. He rose from the chair and moved towards Harry at an angle that would end up with him behind his head. He didn't like this, it didn't seem safe but he didn't dare move. The man lent on the edge of the bath; Harry couldn't hear anything even straining his ears. A hand was placed above his eyes and water was tipped over his head, at least he thought it was water. He was grateful that the placing of the hand stopped him from getting water in his eyes, the hand was removed. There was a squirting sound like something was being squeezed out of a bottle, something was being gently rubbed into his hair. After a moment he realised the man was washing his hair. It seemed odd, it had never been this gentle but then these people hadn't done anything like the Dursleys would have since he had gotten there. That brought another question into his mind; how had he gotten here? Again the hand was placed on his face above his eyes and more water went in his hair, then more and more. The water didn't seem to stop. He was glad it was warm water; he would have hated to stay in a cold bath for this long. When the water stopped again the hand was removed and the fingers from both hands stroked through his hair. it was almost soothing. The hands were removed and he heard a small laugh and then a cloth was reached round to take care of the moustache that he'd forgotten was there.

Suddenly the water started to go down the drain and he was being lifted from the bath he almost panicked but they weren't hurting him yet. A soft towel was wrapped around his body; another smaller one was wrapped around his hair. The man started to dry his body gently rubbing the cloth against his skin while the woman was drying his hair. He felt so nice and clean, he didn't think he had ever been so clean. Once he was dry the man wrapped the towel back around him and waked away, leaving the woman who had just started to finger comb his hair to continue. It wasn't long before he came back with a robe, it was a deep midnight blue and looked really soft. The woman let go of his hair and the two of them dressed him in this robe it made him feel so warm and almost sleepy. He tried to get his courage up and succeeded somewhat, "who are you?" His voice was so soft and nervous as he stared at the floor thinking that the punishment was sure to come soon.

There was a hand under his chin and it lifted his head, he realised it was the man's there was shock on the elder's face. "Haven't we introduced ourselves little one?" the child shook his head. The man took his hand and led him out of the bathroom, into another room, he looked around it was a bedroom, the bottom off the robe dragging along the ground. It had black velvet curtains pulled closed, a soft grey carpet, cream walls and a big bed in the middle of the room. He couldn't do anything but stare at the bed as he was led towards it, it was a metal four poster bed; except it was different, it had what looked like four trees holding the bed up, with a nest above the bed where the trees connected. They sat down on the bed a gap between them and patted the space motioning for him to come take a seat, he did so cautiously.

"I'm James and this is Lily we are your parents." They were blunt and to the point. "Bbbbut Aunt Pppetunia and Uncle Vernon said you were dead, ttthat you were alcoholics and got drunk and dddrove into a school bus with young children on it; causing injuries and three 6 year olds to die because you hated mmme…" They stared at him as his voice drifted off.

"No Harry your aunt and uncle lied to you; we are not alcoholics, we barely drink alcohol nor did we die and we certainly didn't drive into a school bus of young children. We don't hate you Harry, we love you!" It didn't really sink in but they seemed sure of it, so he just nodded thinking they had lied about other things like his cleaning, what was stopping them from lying about his parents. Yet he still didn't really believe it especially the part where they said that they loved him.

Enjoy...

sorry, it has been a while, have been caught up in uni. I never expected that I would be so busy i was in classes this semester nearly 30 hours a week and then assignments and other study on top left no time for anything else really.


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